Staff

Linda Meyer, Executive Director
Linda’s experiences with Postpartum Depression in 1990 and 1993, along with the lack of knowledge and understanding from family, friends and healthcare providers, presented the opportunity to learn more about Postpartum Adjustment Disorders (PPAD.) She felt a great need to help by sharing her story and offering reassurance to other mothers experiencing similar problems. In 1992, she began attending St. Louis area support groups as a PPD survivor and offering support for moms experiencing PPAD. In 1995, she met Darcell Scharff, PhD, who had recently developed a telephone support program for women with PPAD. Together, Linda and Darcy began providing a service that would help all women experiencing PPAD in the St. Louis Community. Linda runs all of the daily activities of the organization, speaks to all women who seek the services of Mother to Mother, and provides education and information about the services of Mother to Mother. Linda has been a Missouri Co-coordinator for Postpartum Support International since 2005.

Angela Borisch Staples, Director of Volunteers
Angela is the mother to one preschool-age child. She has a professional background in social work and has a passion in mental health. Angela's responsibilities include: recruiting volunteers, holding orientation sessions, finding suitable volunteers for each task needed. The majority of MtM's volunteers act as phone support, assisting with community outreach and organizing fundraisers.

Board of Directors

Darcell (Darcy) Scharff, Ph.D., Founder and Telephone Volunteer Trainer
Darcy is founder, current President, and trainer of telephone volunteers. After a personal experience with postpartum depression, she joined the Barnes-Jewish Postpartum Advisory Board to explore ways to help other women. The board supported her efforts in developing a telephone support program. She designed the training based on formative research with other mothers who experienced postpartum depression. Mother to Mother remains the only telephone support program in Missouri, and is a model for other programs around the country.

Barb Bergh
Barb and her husband Jim reside in Ballwin are parents of two girls ages 9 and 5. She has worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a sales representative for over 12 years. Barb experienced PPD after the birth of her first daughter and was supported by Mother to Mother. In 2007, Barb decided to give back to the organization by becoming a member of the Board.

Kelly Caul, MSW, LCSW
Kelly is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and works as an Adolescent Therapist at Logos School. She is passionate about working with women and finding ways to create opportunities and environments in which women can thrive and be successful.

Sarah F. Coffman, MSW, LCSW
Sarah has dedicated her career to improving the lives of women. The focus of her private psychotherapy practice (Rite of Passage) is helping women and adolescent girls survive life transitions with a specialty in perinatal mood disorders. A graduate of Washington University, where she now teaches as an Adjunct Instructor, Sarah maintains an active presence in the community as a private doula, the Missouri Co-coordinator for Postpartum Support International, and a contributing member of several other professional organizations.

Sandii Leland Handrick, MPH, CHES
Sandii Leland Handrick serves as the Director of Executive Administration for St. Louis County Department of Health. She spearheaded an effort to ensure that mothers enrolled in St. Louis Healthy Start received depression screening that is relevant and reflective of how African American women experience and express depressive symptoms. An article detailing the findings has been accepted for publication in the journal Research on Social Work Practice. A mother of a teenage son, Mrs. Handrick holds a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville School of Education, and a Master of Public Health in Behavioral Science and Health Education from Saint Louis University School of Public Health. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Public Policy Analysis at Saint Louis University College of Education and Public Service, as well as a Master of Business Administration at Fontbonne University.

Kathy Jessen
Kathy is the mother of two children. She has worked in the accounting field for 23 years as both a Tax Auditor and as a General Accounting Specialist. She has been a part of MTM since 1998. Kathy had suffered prenatal anxiety/depression with second child 12 years ago and has a passion to help other women who suffer from this emotional illness. She has also been trained and serves as a phone volunteer.

Stephanie Morgan
Stephanie Starkloff Morgan, MPH is the mother of two children. Her background is in public health with a special interest in maternal child health issues. She is a phone volunteer for MTM and currently serves on the board of directors.

Hollie Smith
Hollie has worked for the renowned Institute for Social Research at the University of MI since 2002. She has worked on landmark federal projects on poverty, health and retirement, and reproductive health. Prior to that she had her own business providing software systems to the long term healthcare industry and taught in the St. Louis Public Schools. Hollie has her Masters of International Business from the University of South Carolina and her BA in Education and Spanish from Webster University. She is a native of St. Louis.